Ex-NFL Star Accused Of Running Mortgage Fraud With His Mother

Former Pro Bowl wide receiver Irving Fryar was indicted Wednesday over an alleged mortgage scam, with New Jersey authorities claiming he conspired with his mother to steal more than $690,000 through fraudulently obtained home equity loans.  Acting Attorney General John J. Hoffman says Fryar, who played for the New England Patriots and Philadelphia Eagles, and 72-year-old Allene McGhee agreed to take out five loans during a six-day period in December 2009, each time using her home in Willingboro as collateral. The pair did not disclose the other loans and provided false wage information for McGhee, according to the Attorney General.  Fryar himself took $200,000 from that ill-gotten pool of money, authorities claim. The ex-football star allegedly used some of the money to pay off personal debts, while authorities are unclear where the rest went. Fryar and his mother now face second-degree charges of conspiracy and theft by deception in the case, which has been assigned to Burlington County court.

Fryar played for four NFL teams between 1984 and 2000, including the Miami Dolphins and Washington Redskins. He has remained involved in the sport, as the head coach of the Robbinsville High School varsity football team.

Susquehanna Bank, The Bank, Cornerstone Bank, Sun Bank and Beneficial Bank made the five loans and all thought they held first lien on McGhee’s property and that adequate equity backed up the lending, according to authorities. In the end, Fryar and his mother made just a handful of payments on four of the loans, authorities say.  To mislead the banks, the pair falsely claimed that McGhee earned thousands of dollars monthly as an event coordinator for Fryar’s church, according to authorities.  Authorities contend that Fryar and McGhee submitted false wage information for McGhee to secure two other mortgage loans: a $414,000 loan from Lincoln Mortgage Co. in 2009 that was secured by the McGhee-owned property where Fryar lives and a sixth mortgage loan on McGhee’s home from Roma Bank in 2010.
The second-degree counts carry a possible sentence of five to 10 years in state prison and a fine of up to $150,000.  The case is State of New Jersey v. McGhee et al. in the Superior Court of the State of New Jersey, County of Burlington. The case number was not immediately available.